FINALLY
Clevedon 1 Yeltz 4
16 September 2000
It's been a long time coming but the mighty Yeltz finally registered their first win, stuffing Clevedon 4-1. Two pens from Les Hines, and first goals from Darroch and Mason means we've snuck up to 20th place .
No news on the manager front as yet, but according to Halesowen News interviews will begin this week looking to appoint someone before the FA Cup game in two weeks.
Matches this week: on Tuesday we visit Stafford Rangers , and then Saturday brings rock-bottom Fisher to The Grove.
Match Report from Dave Johnson
Clevedon Town: Hervin; Rollo, Haines, Peters, Coupe (Skidmore 75), Harvey, R.Ford, Badman, Mehew, Mainwaring, Lester. Subs: Llewellyn, Jeffries
Halesowen Town: Quy; Hines, Owen, Wood, Lloyd, Comyn, Collins (Cartwright 64), J. Ford, Payne (Mason 85), Griffiths (Hodgetts 81), Darroch
Booked: Owen Referee: R. Desmond (Swindon) Attendance: 303
Caretaker manager Alan Moore led Halesowen to their first win of the season at the 8th attempt with the help of two penalties strikes as Halesowen finally put their start of season nightmare behind them.
However, only 303 were there to witness it - some vague excuses about nuptuals I believe and also the Somerset shortage of fuel at a ground demanding car travel as it's in the middle of nowhere with few houses nearby. However, those that made it will now doubt annoy everyone by saying "where we you when the Yeltz won their first match of the season?". Before I forget, here's a brief stat attack - Scott Darroch's goal was the 700th for the Yeltz in ten and a bit seasons in the Southern Premier.
The visitors made an ideal start when Iain Harvey tripped Stuart Payne and Les Hines stepped up to score from the resulting penalty in the 9th minute. Jon Ford then drove just wide for the Yeltz in the 17th minute. Clevedon levelled with their first strike on goal in the 23rd minute when Danny Haines cracked home directly from a 25 yard freekick giving Andy Quy no chance. David Mehew struck the side-netting with a glancing header three minutes later from Richard Ford's freekick, but Halesowen regained the lead and control in first half stoppage time when Scott Darroch thundered an 18 yard volley into the angle of the net, taking advantage of Harvey's poor clearance. It was Darroch's first for Halesowen and a memorable strike to register the 700th goal in the Southern Premier for the Yeltz.
Clevedon were briefly excited in the 50th minute when Richard Ford had a goal disallowed for offside - the flag had been raised several seconds earlier, though the referee hadn't noticed. Jason Owen was then booked for dissent. Quy produced a fine save from Richard Ford in the 56th minute but then in a repeat of the first half, Harvey brought down Payne who had made a great right wing run and Hines again crashed home from the penalty spot to increase Halesowen's lead.
At 3-1 and the clock ticking horrid visions of Crawley briefly came back as the Yeltz conceeded midfield and gave away the ball cheaply on the edge of their box. However, the brief storm was easily weathered and with the help of substitutions Halesowen went on to record a much deserved win. Ex-Macclesfield man Michael Mason stepped off the substitute's bench to notch Halesowen's fourth in injury time after tricking his way past two defenders and curling the ball beyond Mark Hervin to make Halesowen's victory a comprehensive one.